How much lean is dangerous?

[andyvh1959]

Meaning, how much tree lean is dangerous. I have many mature, large, 100'+ tall oaks and maples on my property, and most of them are properly vertical. Two white oaks on the west of my lot have enough lean to the south that makes me anxious. To me, because of the lean angle the load center of these trees is at least 30' above the soil. The soil around here is sandy, no clay that I've ever dug into, and I've been on this lot since 2002. The trees themselves have been leaning all these years, can't say I get a feeling the lean has increased. One of the two has many barren branches quite a way up, to the point I'm planning to get an arborist up the tree after it goes dormant to trim the dead branches cut off and to trim up the tree to releive some of the wieght on the leaning side. Anyone else have similar experience with trees like this? Tomorrow I'll hold up my phone with an angle app to get an idea of the actual lean angle.

 

[Firebrick43]

Our Chicago neighbor down the road had two huge leaning silver maples wolf trees we kept warning them about for years. In 2014 we had a derecho wind and both blew over, the one missing the living room by inches that they were setting in and reading books on the couch.

Her curio cabinet jumped off the floor 6 inches and landed on its face breaking most of the stuff inside.

 

[LopezBart]

Ask a local arborist. They'll have seen what happens nearby. These trees develop deep tap roots, so it may not be as bad as you think.

 

[racecougar]

Are they near anything that would be damaged should they fall? That will directly impact the "danger level" here.

I have a number of big trees with serious leans to them. Many have been that way for years, but all will eventually fall (including the ones standing straight up).

 

[NUTTSGT]

They get real dangerous after a period of heavy rain when the ground is saturated and followed by heavy and gusty winds

 

[CraigStu]

Could they be dropped w/o ruining a bunch of other trees?

 

[PopcornSutton]

I've got a red oak that has a significant lean to it, and it's been that way since I've been here which is 22 years. Still standing.

 

[pcmeiners]

After Sandy I toured around parts of Long Island, most of the areas were basically sandy soil. Many of the oaks were up rooted . the roots were only down a couple feet, was thinking oak and other hardwoods rooted deeply very surprised .

 

[My Old Tools]

In my experience, they will lean forever....until they don't. They could literally be there the rest of your life, or they could come down tomorrow. That said, I have lost more straight trees to straight line winds than I have leaners. Saturated ground makes it worse, as does gusting wind. If they are somewhat protected by other trees from the prevailing thunderstorm winds, they could live a long time. Virtually all trees have the majority of their roots in the top foot or two of soil.

 

[CV428]

They get real dangerous after a period of heavy rain when the ground is saturated and followed by heavy and gusty winds

This is very true. The reason SC/NC/GA got hit so hard by Helene, aside from the fact that it was an inland hurricane is that we got 6"-8" of rain just prior to the hurricane hitting. The ground was already saturated and the water had nowhere to go. Trees that normally wouldn't be an issue continued to fall for the next month. It was a disaster everywhere. I wound up taking out some massive trees that I wanted to keep. All the old growth on our property is gone now

As for OP, I would gauge it based on the threat. A little lean near a house is a lot scarier than a lot of lean out in a field.

 

[Jazz1]

Depends on the root and trunk. This tree been growing like this 25 years

 

[andyvh1959]

On my lot, any tree that falls in any direction will hit something and do real damage. If I have the tree trimmed out this winter I may also have one tree cabled to the other so they each help support each other.

 

[racecougar]

You might run a cable or two to a ground anchor, too then, if that's applicable in this situation.

 

[Dagny]

Don't insurance cover tree damage.

 

[Dagny]

Around here a healthy oak will seldom tip over. Look closely around the bottom for critter holes a sign that it is hollow. Which doesn't mean it will fall . S1x inches of oak wood can hold a very big tree. once it rots to the outside in even a small area all bets are off.

 

[mepstein]

I've seen a tree survive a severe storm and then two months later, tip over on a calm day. It's almost impossible to say when it might happen, just that eventually, it will.
I just spent $10K to remove a bunch of trees that could trash my house if they came down. I live in the woods so there's still probably a couple dozen that could cause issues.

 

[Milton Shaw]

I had a 40 inch oak fall about 30 years ago on a calm Sunday after church, just sitting at the kitchen table and saw the tree go by the window. It totaled out 2 vehicles with a miss of the trunk not hitting them. My brand new company work van had a 20 inch or so limb down to the ground behind the drivers seat. I called my boss and told him and he said he would have to fire me for driving the company vehicle on Sunday. I told him I wasn't driving. He drove up to see it the next day. This past year I had a 60"+ oak in my front yard move (lean several feet) when Helene the hurricane came through. I paid to get it cut and removed so it would not fall on powerline, house, neighbors house, and cars and truck. It had 6 20" limbs over the house and powerlines. Took two guys over a week to take it down a piece at a time. They did a great job, didn't drop anything on the house or power lines.

 

[Torque&Recoil]

I've seen a tree survive a severe storm and then two months later, tip over on a calm day. It's almost impossible to say when it might happen, just that eventually, it will.

Exactly. We live in the woods, and on numerous occasions, sitting on the deck on a sunny Saturday morning.... Crash! A tree just falls over. No wind. No recent rain. It just happens. Also, I have a significantly leaning oak over the driveway - been there forever and might remain that way for another 50 years. Or it might fall over tomorrow. Hopefully not. I'll take my chances with that one.

 

[Skooterj]

Somewhere between these two?

 

[andyvh1959]

Don't insurance cover tree damage.

Don't just assume coverage, better check your policy. If the tree is determined "iffy" or dead and you as the property owner/policy holder is considered negligent for not having taking care of it sooner any damage could be yours to pay for.

Five years ago the top half of one of my oaks broke off and nailed the neighbors yard shed. A few years prior a thick branch had broke off and speared the roof of my yard shed. I did the repairs myself, didn't think then to check out the tree for other issues. I helped my neighbor clean up the fallen wood, cut it up with my chain saw, hauled out two loads of tree stuff with my trailer. But the inusrance claim for his shed was on his insurance, which his wife confirmed as she was a claims adjuster.